The communal character of love
Easter 6B | John 15:9-17
When Jesus talks about love, I can’t help but think of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. Few people make their very identity so tied to an idea that when we hear the word, we think of them
Many of us knew about him before he preached at the royal wedding a few years ago. When he preached about, of course, love! And it was easy to assume he would. What else do we preach at weddings? But that isn’t Curry’s “wedding message”. It’s his Jesus message. His God message.
People were passing around bingo cards online of Curryisms in advance of that day. So we could mark off the things we just know he was going to say. And love was the free space in the center.
God is love, scripture tells us. Bishop Curry reminds us, therefore, if it isn’t about love then it isn’t of God.
Bishop Curry isn’t the only face of love, of course. He comes from a long tradition of people who take the teaching of Jesus seriously enough to shape their lives around it. Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, Desmond Tutu. People who recognized that love isn’t just something you feel. It is behavior, lifestyle, and even the root of joy.
The full text may be found here.
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